Un'ottima recensione,anche per gli interpreti:
http://www.rgj.com/article/20080404/ENT01/...y=nav|headFor classicists and grumps, "Nim's Island" probably makes too many leaps of logic. A little girl left to fend for herself on an uncharted island. Animals that think and act like humans. An agoraphobic author who cures herself in a matter of days.
It's all a bit much.
But, who cares? Most youthful fans won't mind a story that dances between realism and fantasy. They will more likely be swept up in the film's masterful adventure tales, which are simultaneously wholesome and exciting.
Based on the book by Wendy Orr, the film tells of Nim (Abigail Breslin), a young girl living on a remote island with her oceanographer father, Jack (Gerard Butler). Because the island remains undiscovered -- by anyone but this pair -- they live a back-to-nature life, reading, playing in the sand and doing research in a Robinson Crusoe-like home powered by a few solar panels. They also take care not to give their position to strangers because Jack prefers their pristine, uninterrupted lifestyle. In a voiceover, Nim admits that island life is not for everyone, but it works for them.
Things get dicey, however, when Jack allows Nim to spend two nights alone on the island while he conducts a research experiment at sea. He's reluctant, but he knows she's able to take care of herself. Alas, Jack is caught in a terrible storm that leaves him stranded at sea with a broken, leaking boat and few tools.
When he fails to return, Nim knows there's a problem, so she asks for help in an e-mail to her favorite adventure hero -- Alex Rover, the manly star of many first-person adventure books.
Alas, Alex is really Alexandra Rover (Jodie Foster), a reclusive writer who has a hard time leaving the house, let alone rescuing children. She suffers from a germ fixation, eats only Progresso soup and struggles even to recover her mail. But when Nim writes, she feels obligated to help ... even if it kills her.
The husband-and-wife directing team of Jennifer Flackett and Mark Levin shift their cameras between the struggles of Nim, Alexandra and Jack, and all tie nicely together. Although Nim and Jack are far more capable and adventurous than Alexandra, her rush to fly to a no-name place in the middle of the ocean is just as heroic because each step horrifies her. And Alexandra's only guide is her imagining of Alex Rover (also played by Butler), the fictional hero who is afraid of nothing.
As mentioned, the leaps of logic are many and often, but the storytelling is exciting and the acting is strong -- particularly when compared to the average children's movie. It's a treat to get Butler and Foster in a movie like this, and although Breslin does plenty of children's work, she's always a likable presence.
Get past the unlikely plot points, which is easy, and you're left with an exciting adventure that should be pleasing kids for years.
